The newer religions: Scientology and Mormonism.

As long as there are crazy people on this planet, there will always be new and crazy religions popping up.  I find that generally, the newer a religion is, the more it is dismissed.  

Scientology is a fairly new religion, and most people dismiss scientologists as whack-jobs...as they should...BUT, why do all the older religions get a free pass?  Just because Christianity has been around longer, that doesn't make it a more legitimate religion.  All religions are simply crazy ideas that people thought up at some point in history.  Whether it was invented thousands of years ago or just last week - religions are just plain crazy.

A long time ago, when most religions began, people didn't know anything about science and why things happen, so they believed all of the crazy things that their religions were telling them...today people know better, yet they still choose to believe these magical things happened long ago. Christianity claims that Mary gave birth to Jesus even though she was a virgin (we now know that this is impossible). Christianity also claims that Jesus had magical powers and that he was resurrected from the dead (we now know that this is impossible). Long ago, people were ignorant and uninformed, so I can understand how they could believe such things...but today we are informed enough to know these things are ridiculous, yet many people still choose to believe them.

The truth is, we should either accept all non-violent religions, or we should accept none of them.  All this picking and choosing and trying to decide the religion that is "most right" is a complete waste of time.  If one religion has 2 followers and another has millions of followers, it should not matter - they are both just made-up ideas that people choose to believe in.

L. Ron Hubbard, the inventor of Scientology - he was crazy.

Joseph Smith, the inventor of Mormonism - he was crazy too.

Muhammad was the inventor of Islam - he was crazy too, but he started his religion a long time ago, so people think he's more legitimate.

Jesus was just another nut-job who invented a religion...but because he has so many followers and his religion has existed for a long time, we're not allowed to question his legitimacy. I wonder, how long must a religion exist before it can no longer be questioned? Is there a definite cut-off point - like 300 years?

The inventors of all of these religions were nut-jobs. The big religions just happened to originate long ago when people were ignorant enough to believe them - these major religions were passed on for thousands of years, which is why those religions have so many followers today. For thousands of years people did not understand science. People did not know what was possible and what wasn't, so they continued to believe in these religions because they were ignorant. Today we do know better, yet many people ignore science and just believe what their parents told them. HOWEVER, with schools, television, and the internet educating people about science, some people are finally beginning to realize that religion has been a scam all along.

Today we are informed enough to know that many of the things Christianity claims to be true are impossible. YET people today still believe in Christianity because that's what their parents taught them, and everyone wants to believe what is popular. For some reason most people have a hard time questioning what they were taught as children. I think they just don't want to accept that the religion they've spent their whole lives following is a total scam - they've got so much time invested in it, they figure they might as well stick with it...just like a man and a woman who are in a bad relationship yet they stay together because they've been together for so long and they're in denial:  "This religion isn't working anymore, maybe we should start seeing other ideas."

This dumb tradition of never questioning our ancestors is why Christianity is still so popular today. It's ok to disagree with your ancestors - it's ok to admit that your parents are dumb for believing what they believe.  Use your own brain and come up with your own beliefs based on logic - don't rely on your ancestors to tell you what to think.  

Most people are slaves to where they were born and who raised them.  Their beliefs are based solely on the fact that they happened to be born in a certain country or town and raised by certain people.  Don't be a slave to your birthplace - develop your own ideas.